Ink

Big news today for people who are fans of the Wizards and the intricacies for STAR bonds and real-estate development. (If you're a fan of both of those two things, this kind of news is likely to give you multiples.)

The Wizards ownership group, OnGoal, is preparing to move ahead with a proposal to build a Soccer Specific Stadium at The Legends on land owned by Nebraska Furniture Mart ... apparently scrapping the Three Trails plan for the old Bannister Mall site.

The Star's Kevin Collison (with a big tip of the hat to Lynn Horsley and friend of the blog Pete Grathoff) has the entire scoop.

Reaction from fans is a little bit all over the place (and somewhat predictable). Some flat don't like The Legends. Some hate the traffic. Some don't like driving out to Wyco and wanted the site to be centrally located. Some people apparently want the owners to put a multi-million dollar stadium in their back yard. Some just liked the idea of having something brand new to enjoy.

Well, some people like the comedy of Carlos Mencia.

Stop. Rejoice. This is our chance to have our cake and eat it too.*

*Not only will this site mean the team is on the field for the 2011 season, we will get to watch the stadium be built WHILE we are watching the team play just a few hundred feet away at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Yes, this is the second consecutive Wizard's blog where I've made a cake analogy. Cake is good.

This site, this plan, this proposal is the way to go. I admit, I liked the Three Trails plan. I thought it was intriguing and promising.

But, the way things are right now, it would be a really, really big gamble.

The Wizards and OnGoal have opted for stability. We should applaud this.

The Legends is an established and thriving area. It has two major highways (same as Truman Sports Complex), three major anchor features that aren't going anywhere (the Speedway, Cabela's, Nebraska Furniture Mart) and is making money at such a substantial clip (The Star reports all the STAR bonds could be paid off by 2013 or 2014) that they can take on big development without any hitch whatsoever.

One of my biggest objections to the Three Trails plan was that it relied on the Wizards to be the focal point of the development. (Especially one that requires TIF funding.)

Not only are we as a metro tapped when it comes to massive retail projects (The Plaza, Zona Rosa, The Legends), but I don't think you're being realistic if you think a fourth massive retail project can thrive if the key to its survival is a Major League Soccer team drawing 18,000+ fans. Um, we'd be lucky if a Super Bowl-contending Chiefs team could carry a FOURTH retail project.*

*Having said all of that, if they planned on building an Ikea and the Wizards stadium at Bannister Mall, the tune I'm humming might have changed.

Whatever. We can squabble over the details of the plans and our personal biases toward stadium sites (I'd love it they played all of their games in the grassy field off Waukomis Road and Line Creek by my house), but the reality is this deal makes financial and business sense. Cerner has put their money into the deal and are investing their future into the project. And the Unified Government in Wyco has a track record of putting these development plans together. Mayor Funkhouser and this current KC city council do not.* (The Sprint Center and Power and Light District were Mayor Kay Barnes.)

*They can't even decide which two toppings to get on their pizza during their meetings. I cannot prove this, but I hear Funkhouser likes anchovies and marshmallows on his.

When you get right down to it, though, I don't care where they really put the site (Legends = stability, Three Trails = promise) as long as we the fans get two things.

1) To keep our team in the metro area and avoid the pesky and annoying team-poaching rumors from soccer-poor metros.

2) To have a soccer-specific stadium tailored to the needs of the fans and the game.

Those are the two most important things (with the third being longevity). This has that. And, if we have those and have those with certainty, this is the project we need to get behind.

Even if it means that my favorite song (Take me home, Hillcrest Road) has about as much meaning now as a VH1 reality dating show.